(Formerly: CEYLON)

(WIPO code: LK) (last revised October 2023)

by JULIUS & CREASY, Attorneys-at-Law, Solicitors and Notaries Public, Colombo

General Information

Area

65,610 sq. km.

Population

23,326,272 (2023).

Capital

Colombo.

Languages

Sinhala (official), Tamil (official), English.

Currency

Rupee.

Main agricultural products

The principal agricultural products are tea, about 419,000,000 pounds annually, rubber, coconuts, rice, cocoa, cinnamon, citronella and tobacco.

Minerals

Minerals and metals found on the island include graphite, limestone, iron, precious and semi-precious stones, ilmenite, monazite, zircon and quartz.

General Remarks

Sri Lanka is an island in the Indian Ocean 50 km off the southern tip of India at the nearest point of the mainland.

It became a British Crown colony in 1802. A new constitution on the British model was promulgated in 1946. Sri Lanka was granted full dominion status effective as from February 4, 1948. It is now an independent nation within the Commonwealth and has a new republican constitution since August 31, 1978.

Industrial production has made rapid progress since the second World War ended and factories have been established for the manufacture of plywood, paper, glassware, ceramics, cement, acetic acid, textiles, rubber products, petroleum products, steel, flour and fertilizers. Projects planned or realized include factories for coconut oil, sugar, caustic soda, insecticides, ilmenite and the development of hydroelectric power and tourism.